Personal computing discussed
Moderators: renee, Captain Ned
thegleek wrote:I get this too! I would LOVE a solution! There MUST be a solution!!!
just brew it! wrote:The only solution that doesn't involve running an extension cable around to the back is to replace the crappy cable that came with your case. Cable designed for audio use, or (in a pinch) a length of USB cable with the connectors snipped off should have sufficient shielding to reduce the amount of noise the cable picks up. You'll need to splice the cable to the existing connectors, minimizing the length of the unshielded section.
Caveat: While noise pickup in the cable is indeed the most likely culprit, it could also be that the motherboard traces running to the front panel header are to blame; if this is the case, replacing the cable won't help.
thegleek wrote:$80½ or double that. The latter is a sure-fire solution for quality front-panel headphone outputs.Something crazy for $50-100 would be fine too. ANYTHING to get rid of this damn noise!!!
JustAnEngineer wrote:double that. The latter is a sure-fire solution for quality front-panel headphone outputs.
sluggo wrote:The Intel recommended front panel HDA cable calls for four shielded twisted pairs, bundled and further shielded by metallized mylar and a 65% copper braid, with all shields and the braid tied to analog ground at both ends. This (grounding at both ends) happens to be wrong, but I doubt that it matters since I doubt that most case manufacturers would take the trouble to build such a cable anyway.
JustAnEngineer wrote:The current beta of the Creative drivers works well and includes the features hacked into the third-party ones.
cjcerny wrote:The best solution is to not use analog audio at all at the front of the PC. Electrically, a PC is a very noisy place and analog solutions are all going to be subject to at a little EMF. I would buy an inexpesive USB DAC and plug it into one one the USB ports you have at the front of your PC.
http://hifiman.us/Products/?pid=113
APWNH wrote:That would mean yet another USB peripheral.
APWNH wrote:Perhaps the 5.25 bay front panel audio would be a DAC and receive a digital signal from mobo/soundcard. Is that $160 item linked before the only such type of device?
APWNH wrote:That would mean yet another USB peripheral. Perhaps the 5.25 bay front panel audio would be a DAC and receive a digital signal from mobo/soundcard. Is that $160 item linked before the only such type of device?
just brew it! wrote:cjcerny wrote:The best solution is to not use analog audio at all at the front of the PC. Electrically, a PC is a very noisy place and analog solutions are all going to be subject to at a little EMF. I would buy an inexpesive USB DAC and plug it into one one the USB ports you have at the front of your PC.
http://hifiman.us/Products/?pid=113
There's also the Turtle Beach Micro II: http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/sou ... ro-ii.aspx
Specs aren't as good as the HiFiMAN you linked, but it also costs $15 less.
APWNH wrote:just brew it! wrote:There's also the Turtle Beach Micro II: http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/sou ... ro-ii.aspx
Specs aren't as good as the HiFiMAN you linked, but it also costs $15 less.
These little things are pretty cool! I didn't know they could be so small.
APWNH wrote:The reason I was surprised by its size was I have a USB sound card here that I got to use as a DAC for controlling a laser projector (set of galvanometers), and it's... not tiny. Of course that's why it was recommended for that purpose because then it's not difficult to disassemble to get at the solder points to bypass the caps.
APWNH wrote:just brew it! wrote:There's also the Turtle Beach Micro II: http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/sou ... ro-ii.aspx
thegleek wrote:APWNH wrote:just brew it! wrote:There's also the Turtle Beach Micro II: http://www.turtlebeach.com/products/sou ... ro-ii.aspx
Only flaw I see is it's output only. No input.